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| - Another year, another Aki Matsuri Festival in Las Vegas. And your festival experience will likely be very different depending on the time of day you were there. But parking for the event at the Rio was way better compared to when it was held at other smaller venues.
This year the event was held at the Rio's parking lot, where numerous other festivals and carnivals are held throughout the year. So parking for the event was easy compared to past years when it was held at other venues. Plus you are not disrupting other businesses physically attached to that parking lot (at past venues)
For those that were lagging about getting pre-sale tickets, they were practically all sold out the day before the event. So in the future if you plan on attending it and getting a discounted ticket, buy it early.
I arrived and met up with friends at around 2:30pm, so the long lines others encountered around noon time had already mostly died down. Buying ticket to get in, and purchasing ramen redemption tickets ($7 each as stated on the flyers) were both relatively painless and quick. Some ramen vendors had longer lines than others, but even the ones with the longest line (Hiromaru - a ramen restaurant from Japan that is going to open their very own Las Vegas location in the near future) have no lines at all at times. So it pays to be a little patient. Overall, I was not blown away by any of the ramen I tried at the Ramen Festival (biggest complaint for me is that the broth seems to be more water down, plus portions are tiny for the $7 being charged per ramen ticket).
Besides that, these are areas that can use significant improvements in the future:
1. Everything was way too spread out. The layout of the event could have been done a lot better.
2. And for a food festival, there were not enough places to sit and eat your ramen under the shade. And where the tables are located, they were so bunched up together it was troublesome to get in and out of that area, while trying not to spill any hot ramen broth on people that were already seated.
3. Disappointing lineup of non-food vendors.
4. Entertainment - couldn't even see it if you are waiting in line for ramen.
Generously giving this traditionally fun event (at least in other cities in California) a 3 stars by rounding it up to the nearest absolute integer.
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